When Millburn coach Rodger Blind won his 200th game on Saturday, the mood was one of relief as much as it was one of celebration.

Such feelings were understandable, before Saturday's 32-21 victory over West Orange, Millburn had lost three-straight games and was staring at potentially starting the season 2-6.

"When you lose three in a row you start to wonder, is your message getting through?" said Blind, who is in his 12th year at Millburn. "Last Saturday, when we won that game, obviously you're happy to win, but just to break that three-game losing streak, just to play well and see how the kids reacted was really nice."

Instead, Millburn and Blind hope the win and impressive defensive performance serves as the catalyst of a winning streak. Millburn followed it up with a 40-38 overtime thriller at West Side on Tuesday.

"The kids played great (on Saturday). We had lost three consecutive games so the biggest thing was trying to get back on the right path," Blind said. "We were able to do that and we carried that over to yesterday when we won on a buzzer shot at West Side. We'll see what happens."

Blind has been a visible presence in the New Jersey coaching scene for 40 seasons on the middle school, high school and college levels.

He was an assistant under the legendary Bob Farrell for two seasons after Farrell was hired at Seton Hall Prep. Blind was the head coach at West Orange High School before it merged with Mountain High School of West Orange in the 1980s.

In 1985, Blind became an assistant coach at Saint Peter's College for 17 seasons, including five as the school's head coach before coming to Millburn.

"I've been coaching for 40 years now. Don't get me wrong, the college level was great. I loved every second of it, but now I'm right where I want to be," Blind said. "Just working with young people that are trying to get better at basketball and combined with a great school system. I'm very happy at Millburn. The thrill of last Saturday was great and I'm really enjoying what I'm doing."

In 2009/2010, Millburn went 23-4 before falling to Mendham in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 final.

"It's been a great journey and I can't tell you how many wonderful young men and families I've been able to meet and work with," said Blind. "Saturday when we got the 200th win to hear from all of the former players was just heartwarming."